The Stone Cottage
by Emorysky
Summary: When they first met, neither of them could speak English- or the other's native language. And maybe that's why Antonio wasn't intimidated by Lovino's harsh words. How was Antonio supposed to be intimidated by the crying Italian boy he met in the woods, if he couldn't even understand that the words coming out of his mouth were insults. It's a good thing they're both fast learners.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone! This is my first story! It's Spamano (my OTP) and will take place over multiple years and have lots of time skips.**

 **Right now it is mostly just childish fluff, but as the story progresses and the characters grow up I might have to change the rating to M (but that won't be for a while).**

 **There will be other pairings, I just haven't decided which ones. So feel free to suggest some!**

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Chapter 1: Language Barriers

Antonio decided he absolutely hated America. He missed his sunny cottage home along the coast of Spain, and his giant fields of tomatoes that he and his mom grew together. He missed his old dog Vito, who he had been forced to leave behind in the care of his grandparents. He wanted to go back. His new house is fine, pretty actually; just big enough for the family of three. But it's at the base of a hill, enveloped in shadow. The hill itself was covered in tall green trees, and although it was beautiful, it made Antonio feel claustrophobic. He's not used to the shade and closeness of the trees and the long shadows they cast in the evening. They had planted tomato plants in the middle of the yard, hoping there would be just enough sunlight there. There really wasn't. Antonio decided he hated the forest.

Today had been a particularly terrible day. He'd only been in his third grade class a few months, and hated everyone. Everyone spoke so fast that he couldn't understand them. It's not his fault he only knew Spanish! He was trying, really trying to learn English, but he wasn't fast enough. He was falling so far behind the other kids and it made him angry. He was smart, he knew that! In Spain he was praised by the adults for his speech, and he could even read pretty well! But here, everyone thought he was stupid. One time during class, he'd been called on to read out loud in front of the class. He couldn't do it. He was shaking and eventually started crying. The other kids had laughed at him. During recess they would taunt and jeer him. They would push him off the swing and refuse to let him down the slide. The teachers never did anything. How were they supposed to help a kid who didn't even speak English? So one day, Antonio started fighting back. After being denied a swing, he pushed a boy off. The boy burst into tears and ran to the teacher, tattling on Antonio. He got in trouble, but it was worth it; being able to swing on the swing. So Antonio stopped letting the other kids push him around. If he was mean, they would be too scared to pick on him, right?

He pushed kids off the swings, and forced his way down the slide when he was denied access. During indoor recess he would steal other kid's toys, or during lunch steal other kid's food. He got in trouble constantly but it didn't matter. The other kids didn't pick on him as much anymore and that's all that mattered to Antonio. Until one day a kid pushed him off the swing. Furious, Antonio had punched the other boy, and they ended up fighting and hitting and pushing one another. Eventually a teacher had to come and break them up. They were escorted to the nurses and then to the principal's office. Everyone claimed Antonio started it and they were going to call his parents. But his parents were working late that night and could not come. So Antonio was stuck in the nurse's office the whole day, not allowed to go back to class. He knew his parents were going to be furious. He was forced to sit in the front of the bus on the way home from school, and all the kids laughed at him. The front is where you went if you were in trouble and the bus driver needed to keep an eye on you.

Once home, Antonio stormed inside. Looking in the hallway mirror he counted his injuries. A bruised cheek, a bump on his head, a nasty scrape on his knee (now covered with a band aid courtesy of the nurse) and a bunch of other bruises all over. Angrily, Antonio took his backpack and dumped its contents onto the floor. He never wanted to go to school ever again. He stormed into the kitchen and grabbed a tomato from a bowl on the counter. The small tomato garden in his backyard had yet to produce any harvest, so his mom had bought some tomatoes from the farmers market that Saturday. Antonio hated these tomatoes; he wanted his home grown tomatoes from Spain. He threw the tomato on the floor. Antonio still had a few hours until his parents came home. No doubt the school had called them, and when they got home Antonio was going to be in so much trouble. He hated being in trouble with his parents. The looks of disappointment they gave him made his heart hurt, he felt like more of a disappointment than he already was. But he hated being picked on more. So Antonio decided to leave. Not forever, just until his parents weren't mad. He could hide out in the woods (as much as he hated them) for a little while. When he came back, his parents would have had some time to calm down, right? Pleased with his idea, Antonio placed all the remaining tomatoes in the bowl into his now empty backpack. Yes, he hated these tomatoes… But they were at least a reminder of home. And so the young boy slipped on his shoes and headed out the back door, into the woods.

~XXX~

The woods were dark and green and quiet. The only sound was the crunch of leaves and twigs under Antonio's feet as he treaded up the wooded hill. Occasionally he would see a bird, or some animal would rustle some leaves, but that was all. And then, Antonio heard the gurgling of water. Excitedly he followed the sound, and came upon something that took his breath away. An old abandoned stone cottage. It was Crumbling and broken and covered in green ivy. Chunks were missing, there was no roof, and the small stream passed right beside it. It was almost buried in green, and it was beautiful. Eyes sparkling, Antonio ran to the cottage. It was nothing more than rubble, and only a few walls are still standing, but it was breathtaking. He checked out some holes in the walls, debating whether or not he should explore inside when he heard it; crying. Startled, he backed away from the house and stood quietly. He heard soft sobs coming from inside the abandoned cottage. And then without a second thought, he slipped into a crack in the wall and ended up in the house, determined to find the source of the crying. It wasn't a large cottage which made the task rather easy. Once inside, he looked around. The fact that there was no roof means sunlight was cast right into the cottage, which allowed for moss and ferns and even some wildflowers to grow here; and, apparently, a child.

The small child was curled around himself, hugging his knees to his chest and burying his face in his arms, sobbing. He was sitting in a patch of bright green ferns, the sun giving his brown hair a reddish tint, and there was an odd curl atop his head. Antonio was confused, why was a child all alone out here? (Ignoring the fact that he himself was a child)

" _Hello_?" He called out in English. The child snapped his head up and locked his olive green eyes with Antonio's before bursting into tears again. "I'm sorry!" He reverted back to Spanish, "Please don't cry! I won't hurt you!" He walked cautiously over to the mysterious child in the ferns and sat down next to him. "Are you hurt? Is that why you're crying?"

To his surprise when the child responded, it wasn't in English or Spanish. It sounded similar to Spanish though. But Antonio still had no idea what the child was saying. Or rather, screaming. Had he been speaking English Antonio could have figured it out, maybe. But this new language… he really had no clue. Once the mysterious child had stopped screaming in this foreign language he sat quietly, hiccupping softly.

"Are you hungry?" He tried again. "Would you like a tomato?" The child stared at him blankly as Antonio unzipped his backpack, and pulled out one of the ripe tomatoes. "I used to cry when I was hungry too!" He handed it to the younger boy who looked at it suspiciously. Antonio took out another tomato for himself figuring that if he ate one the other child would know they were edible. He took a big bite of the juicy fruit, grinning at the familiar taste. He forgot he was supposed to despise these particular tomatoes. Then he turned to his companion, watching him turn the tomato over in his small hands, examining it. Gingerly he took a small bite, chewing slowly, his face scrunched up in thought. Then to Antonio's utter relief and joy, the child, eyes wide with wonder as he looked at the tomato, took a few more ravenous bites. He finished the tomato rather quickly before turning to Antonio and extending his small hand.

Antonio realized he was asking for another tomato. Smiling brightly he handed the boy another, watching him munch happily on his new treat. "They're good, right? The ones I grew in Spain were better though," he told the child, even though he knew the younger boy probably didn't understand a word he was saying. Once the child had finished his second tomato, Antonio decided it was time for introductions. "My name is Antonio!" He said, pointing to himself. The child looked confused and cocked his head to the side, red lips pouting. "Antonio." He repeated, pointing to himself.

"Antonio?" The child repeated, and Antonio nodded enthusiastically.

"Yes! What about you?" He pointed to the other child.

The other boys olive green eyes lit up with understanding. "L-Lovino," He answered.

"Lovino?" Antonio repeated, and the other boy nodded. "Lovino!" He exclaimed happily, standing up. He really wished he could understand his new friend (because anyone who liked tomatoes must be his friend). Antonio turned to Lovino and extended his hand. The boy glared at him and jutted out his bottom lip before cautiously taking Antonio's hand and allowing himself to be pulled up. Antonio found himself wondering why Lovino had been crying, but was just excited that he had stopped (although his eyes were still rimmed with red and his chubby cheeks had tear stains).

Suddenly, Lovino's eyes widened and he pointed to a couple of wildflowers. Antonio looked too, and was surprised to find a rather large, orange butterfly!

" _Farfalla_!" Lovino said, and Antonio had no clue what that meant, but he assumed it was butterfly in whatever language his new friend was speaking.

"Mariposa," Antonio said in Spanish, just so he could compare the two words. Lovino just glared at Antonio and pulled his hand away from the older boy before turning and slowly walking over to the butterfly. However, when he got too close the butterfly flapped its papery wings and rose into the sky. Lovino yelled something angrily in his language, and Antonio realized he wanted to catch the butterfly! Quickly, he grabbed Lovino's hand again and pulled him out of the stone cottage, intent on chasing after the butterfly. Lovino caught on, and the two chased the butterfly around the stone cottage, laughing and giggling, and although neither could understand a word the other said they were having fun.

However, when the butterfly flew over the small stream Antonio could not stop in time and tumbled into the water with a splash. He wasn't hurt, just stunned for a second. But then he looked up at Lovino, who was standing at the edge of the stream and laughing. Laughing! Antonio supposed that maybe he should feel offended, seeing how Lovino was laughing at his expense, but instead he just felt giddy. The grumpy and sad child was laughing, and it was one of the best sounds in the world (according to Antonio). Antonio started laughing too, and without thinking cupped his hands with water and splashed Lovino. Lovino stopped laughing and looked shocked and for a moment. Antonio was worried. Had he ruined it? Would Lovino start crying again? But to his utter relief (and surprise) Lovino jumped into the shallow stream too! He cupped his hands and started splashing Antonio back, and soon the two were splashing about in the stream, soaking wet and muddy. But soon their attention was caught on the small fish tickling their legs, and they redirected their efforts into trying to catch one (to no avail).

~XXX~

Antonio wasn't sure how long he and Lovino had been playing, when they suddenly heard a loud "hoot" of an owl, making them jump. Looking around, they could see the sun setting through the trees, casting long eerie shadows. And suddenly the forest didn't seem like such a nice place after all. Antonio realized then that his parents were probably worried about him, but that thought quickly vanished when he remembered that his parents were going to be mad at him… Antonio felt something on his arm and turned, startled, to find Lovino clinging to him, golden eyes wide and scared. Golden? Antonio blinked a few times, before deciding that it was the golden light of the setting sun reflecting in Lovino's eyes. But that was beside the point; Lovino looked scared. He was tugging on Antonio's now sopping red shirt, and Antonio allowed Lovino to pull him up out of the stream.

Lovino pointed up the hill, and Antonio could see some faint light. Was that where Lovino lived? Antonio vaguely remembered seeing the tall Mansion on the hill. There really weren't any other houses nearby, so that must be where Lovino was from! Antonio decided he'd walk Lovino up to his house before walking back through the forest to get to his own house. The thought of walking through the forest frightened him a little bit… Maybe he'd take the road home, even though it would take longer to get back. At least there would be street lights. So Antonio took Lovino's hand once more and the two children make their way to the top of the hill. It got harder as the sun disappeared, and every hoot and rustle of leaves and snap of a branch made the two kids jump, completely terrified. But eventually they came stumbling out of the woods, and Antonio would have been in awe of the giant mansion had it not been so dark that he couldn't even see the top of it. He was just relieved to be out of the woods.

Lovino was still holding tightly to Antonio's hand as he walked up the grand staircase to get to the front door. Once they reached the top, Lovino paused. He looked at his shoes. And then Antonio. And then the door. And then his shoes again. Then he took a step forward, reached for the door handle, and stopped. Turning, he rang the doorbell instead. There was a very loud (yet muffled) ring that seemed to echo through the whole house. Antonio and Lovino stood silently, hands still clasped together as they waited. Suddenly there was the sound of footsteps and the door swing open revealing a frazzled young lady, who took one look at Lovino and started yelling into the house. Soon there were the sounds of more footsteps and the frazzled lady took Lovino's arm, yanking him inside the house and by default, Antonio too (who had been holding Lovino's hand). Soon the two boys were surrounded by people, who Antonio realized were maids and butlers. Everyone was talking in either rapid English or the new language and Antonio had absolutely no clue what was going on.

The one thing he did notice is that they all seemed to be yelling at Lovino and the poor boy looked just about ready to burst into tears. That made Antonio mad. How dare these people upset his new friend after he had worked so hard to get him to smile!? Quickly, he tugged Lovino behind him and glared at all the yelling adults. Only then did they actually realize Antonio was there, and they started yelling at him! Overwhelmed and angry, the Spaniard shouted, "Shut up! I can't understand any of you! Leave us alone!" Everyone was quiet for a second, exchanging confused glances. Who was this child and why was he speaking Spanish?

Suddenly there were more footsteps and a man came rushing down the stairs. He was tall and well-built with a scruffy beard and olive-toned complexion. He was yelling, no… He wasn't yelling he just had a very loud and booming voice that seemed to command the attention of everyone in the room. The only thing Antonio could make out was Lovino's name, being said over and over. The man pushed past all of the servants, and suddenly Lovino was snatched up from behind Antonio. He swung Lovino around and cooed his name and honestly looked like he was about to cry. Antonio stood quietly and watched as the man and Lovino spoke to each other, and suddenly Lovino looked about ready to cry too. The man gave Lovino a tight hug before placing him in the arms of the frazzled looking woman, who quickly carried him off down a hallway. And suddenly all eyes were on Antonio.

The man was saying something to him in English and Antonio looked at him dumbly. Then one of the servants whispered something in the man's ear and he turned back to Antonio with a big grin on his face.

"Who are you and how on earth did you find my little Lovino?" Antonio paused. That was Spanish! He understood it! This man spoke Spanish!

"My, my name is Antonio!" He said quickly. "We… I met him in the woods. You speak Spanish?"

The man laughed loudly, "Yes, Spanish, Italian, English, French and German. My name is Romulus Vargas, I am Lovino's Grandpa." Then Romulus barked something at the servants and they all dispersed. "Now, Antonio, do your parents know where you are?" Antonio shook his head. "What's their phone number? I shall call them to let them know that you are safe." Antonio raddled off his home phone number off the top of his head. Romulus translated it into English for a servant and they disappeared around the corner to call Antonio's parents. Romulus turned back to Antonio. "Let's go sit down shall we?" He lead Antonio into another giant room. It was warm and only then does Antonio realize how cold he is in his wet clothes. And he was getting mud everywhere.

Romulus seemed to sense what he was thinking and smiled at him. "Don't worry about the mud; it can be cleaned up with no problem." Romulus sat on the plush couch and Antonio took the love seat opposite him. Out of nowhere a servant appeared and handed Antonio a blanket. He curled up with it without thinking. "Now, Antonio, Tell me. What were you doing out in the woods in the first place?"

"I got in trouble at school," he admitted. He's not sure why but he didn't feel like lying to Romulus. "I went out into the woods to avoid my parents… I hoped that when I came home they wouldn't be mad, I guess…"

"I see." Romulus muttered. "Why were you in trouble?"

Again, Antonio didn't feel like lying. "I can't really speak any English… I get made fun of at school and I… I just got tired of being picked on. So I started fighting back. I was fighting with a kid over the swing…"

"What do the teachers do about this?" He asked, generally sounding very curious.

"Nothing," Antonio said bitterly. "They don't know what to do with me. It's not a good school and it doesn't have any special classes to help kids who don't speak English…"

Romulus looked outraged. "That is unacceptable! All should be able to accommodate foreign students! We should embrace cultural differences!" He stood up abruptly, took out his phone and said, "I will be right back!" He was dialing a number as he left the room, and Antonio was left on his own in the grand… living room was it? Despite how big it was, it felt warm and inviting and Antonio realized just how tired he was. He let out a yawn and snuggled farther under the blanket.

Antonio was almost about to drift off to sleep when he heard the clacking of heels and looked up to see the frazzled looking lady. She doesn't look quite as frazzled now and even smiles at Antonio. Then she hands him a glass of milk and a plate of gooey warm chocolate chip cookies.

"Thank you." She said in English, and Antonio at least knew what that meant. He's not sure why he's thanked, but the cookies smelled delicious. The young woman left the room and Antonio was back to being alone. He ate all of the cookies and drank all the milk at a rapid speed (he hadn't realized how hungry he was). He was setting the empty glass and plate on the coffee table when Romulus waltz's back in, looking very pleased with himself.

"Antonio my friend, I have a proposition for you!" Antonio cocks his head, curious. "I so happen to be the headmaster of World Academy, have you heard of it?" Antonio shakes his head. "It's a giant school for very gifted children from all over the world! I founded it with the intent that students could come together and learn about different cultures! It has three different school buildings. Elementary, middle and high school! And then there is a college division on the other side of town, but it's all very local! How would you like to attend?"

Antonio was dumbfounded. World Academy? There's no way Antonio's parents would be able to afford that! "I-I'm sorry sir, but I don't think my family can afford that…"

Romulus laughed. "That's why I'm offering a scholarship! I see really great potential in you, Antonio. Anyone that my grandson gets so attached to must be a very good person. It has one of the best language courses in the world; you can learn English in no time!"

Antonio was shocked. He may be young, but he knew what an offer like this meant.

"Of course, I would need you to do a few things for me." Romulus continued. "No more getting in fights. We don't have any tolerance for violence at World Academy. But that shouldn't be too hard; I don't really see you as a violent person, Antonio."

Antonio can't believe this person has that much faith in him. "I… I have to ask my parents."

"Of course! I'll tell them all about it! I do believe that they said they were coming to pick you up, so it won't be long. We can chat until they arrive!"

"Okay," Antonio agreed. "Why was Lovino in the forest?"

Romulus looked startled, before letting out a laugh. "Ah, we had a very rough day… I'll tell you about it some other time. But we were so worried about him! I can't thank you enough for bringing him back!"

"It's not like he ran away…" Antonio mumbled, "He just needed to be on his own."

Romulus smiled. "Of course. But I'm glad he wasn't alone. He is a very shy child, doesn't open up to others easily… But he's already become very attached to you!" Just then the grand doorbell rang and a servant rushed to go answer it.

A few seconds later Antonio's mom and dad are led into the living room. They looked like fish out of water, being in such a large and expensive home. Their eyes darted around the room, probably adding up the cost of everything, until their eyes fell on Antonio. Antonio's mom rushed over to him and plucked him up off the couch swinging him around.

"Antonio, do you know how worried we were! We almost called the police! Don't ever do that again, do you hear me!?" His mom scolds, holding him close. "You're so cold!" She gasped, "And your clothes are wet!"

"I know mamma, I'm sorry… I'm sorry papa… I was in the woods and I fell in a stream." Antonio's mom set him down and his father stepped up, ruffling his hair.

"I know kiddo, we were just so worried… And your teacher called and said you were in a fight on the playground and got hurt, and we didn't know how hurt and we just…! We were so worried." He kneeled down and pulled Antonio into a tight hug. When he let go, both Antonio's mom and dad turned to Romulus, and Antonio returned to his spot on the couch.

"Thank you so much Mr…?" Antonio's mom asks.

"Romulus Vargas! Just call me Romulus! I don't believe I know your names either."

"Maria and Daniel Fernandez Carriedo," Antonio's mom introduced them.

"It's a pleasure to meet you both." Romulus said, flashing them a smile. "You have a wonderful son. My grandson was lost in the forest and Antonio brought him back!" Antonio noted that that really wasn't true, but kept his mouth shut. So instead he just grinned at his parents. "Truly, he is a very smart young man! And I would like him to attend World Academy!" Antonio's parents were speechless. Romulus started walking, beckoning for Antonio's parents to follow. They did so, open mouthed and looking life fish. "I already have all the papers and everything, come with me to my study and I shall explain all of it!" And Antonio was left alone again.

Antonio must have drifted off because suddenly his father was shaking his shoulder. "C'mon Toni, let's go home and get you to bed." Groggily, Antonio got off the couch and followed his mother and father to the front door. They were saying their goodbye's to Romulus when Antonio saw Lovino walk into the room. He'd been bathed and changed into a white nightgown and was carrying something. He walked forward, looking at the ground, and pushed what he was holding into Antonio's arms. Antonio just looked at Lovino, and decided that under this lighting his eyes are a pretty hazel, with flecks of green and gold. Then he looked down at what Lovino gave him, and was surprised to find it was a small turtle plushy. When he looked back up at Lovino, he found him scurrying away to stand behind his grandfather, blushing a bright red. Antonio thought he looked just like one of the tomatoes they ate earlier. Smiling, he clutched the gift to his chest and allowed his parents to lead him out to the car. He fell asleep on the drive back home.

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 **Tah-dah! That is the first chapter! Reviews and constructive criticism are encouraged and welcome. I don't have a beta or anyone to proofread for me, so there are bound to be a lot of grammatical errors. (I accidentally switch from past to present tense all the time.) Thank you so much for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Pirates Vs. Vikings

Antonio's parents allowed him to go to World Academy. Really, it was a no brainer. It was a famous academy and they were getting Antonio in for free! And because they lived close enough to the campus they didn't even have to pay for student housing. It couldn't have worked out any better.

Antonio already loved the new school. One thing he loved about it was the lack of uniforms! Romulus said he wanted the kids to be able to express themselves through clothing. He fit right in with the other students; hardly any of them spoke English as a first language. Antonio's English had improved immensely though, and he could even have decent conversations with others now! Antonio had also been able to make some new friends.

Francis Bonnefoy was a flamboyant young boy from France. Francis was staying in the student dorms, his parents still in France. And Francis's roommate Gilbert, an albino self-proclaimed 'Prussian' (he was really just German) also made it on the list of 'friends'.

And of course, there was Lovino. Antonio hardly ever got to see him at school (considering he was in first grade and Antonio in third). But Antonio found himself visiting the Vargas household quite often. He found out that Lovino had the cutest little brother named Feliciano, who was three years younger than Lovino. And Mr. Vargas (Or Romulus, as he requested Antonio called him) would give both Lovino and Antonio extra English lessons! The only way to get Lovino to participate was to turn it into a game. Honestly, Lovino just really liked being able to beat Antonio. Antonio didn't mind, as long as Lovino was learning English. It gave him an incentive. If they both knew English they could actually talk to each other and Romulus wouldn't have to translate for them! And Antonio was pretty sure half of what Romulus translated was wrong anyways (because there was no way Lovino would say such nice things).

And within two years, they were both practically fluent. Antonio, now in fifth grade, was super excited about moving up to the middle school! The only downfall being that Lovino would still be in the elementary building. But they lived close by so it was okay!

One day during recess, Lovino's class got to come out and play at the same time as Antonio's! Excitedly, he scampered off the playground (ignoring Francis and Gilbert yelling at him) to go grab Lovino.

"Lovi!" He called, bounding up to his friend. "Come play with Gil and Franny and I!"

"No, I don't wanna. They're both stupid." Lovino said, making a disgusted face.

"Please? We're playing pirates! We need someone on lookout!" Antonio took his hand and led him over to the big red jungle gym.

"That's stupid," Lovino spat. "You're not pirates. You don't have a boat or anything."

"Yes we do! This is out boat!" Explained Antonio, walking onto the structure.

"Boo, why'd you have to bring Lovino!" Gilbert whined. Then he turned to Lovino. "Go away; play with the other little kids."

"Gladly ya' bastard," huffed Lovino, jumping off the structure and onto the woodchips. He started walking over to the swings.

"Gil, that was mean!" Antonio whined. "We could have played together!"

"But he's rude!" Gilbert protested.

"You're rude." Antonio countered.

"Would you two knock that off!?" Francis yelled from his spot at the top of the structure, where the slides were. "We have to defend our ship! Those stupid Vikings are going to try and steal it again!"

Immediately, Gilbert and Antonio were drawn back into their fantasy world. They looked across the playground to the blue structure. It was smaller than the red one, and only had one slide instead of two. Another group of kids were playing on it, but instead of being pirates they called themselves Vikings. Mathias, the self-proclaimed leader of the group, was standing at the top of his 'ship' and eying Antonio's. (Antonio considered the red ship 'his' because he was the captain.) Mathias was an energetic kid from Denmark with gravity defying spiked blonde hair.

"Hey guys!" Antonio, Gilbert and Francis jumped and turned, startled to find Tino, one of the Vikings, had infiltrated their ship. Tino was a small blonde boy from Finland. He had a wicked long and confusing last name that Antonio could never pronounce.

"Intruder!" Gilbert yelled, "Get off of our ship!"

"Can't!" The boy said happily, "I have a message from Mathias. He says that since we have the biggest group, we should have the biggest ship!"

"No way!" Antonio said, standing in front of Tino and trying to look intimidating. "We won't hand over our ship!"

"If you won't see it our way then we'll just have to use other methods to persuade you!" The blonde kid said before running up the steps past Francis and sliding down the slide. Once down the slide he ran over to his group.

Antonio, Gilbert and Francis all exchanged worried looks. What did those Vikings have up their sleeve? They decided to ignore it and went back to fighting imaginary battles with their imaginary swords (they tried to use sticks once but the teachers yelled at them). Suddenly, a call from the other side of the playground interrupted their antics.

"Give us the ship and we'll give you the kid!" Mathias yelled. Antonio gasped, noticing that they had captured Lovino! He was sitting on the blue structure with another boy from his class (they were sharing a bag of pretzels and honestly didn't seem to care what the older boys were doing). If Antonio remembered correctly, he was a silver haired boy named Emil from Iceland.

"What do we do!?" Antonio asked his crewmates.

"We can't give them the ship, but we have to save Lovino!" Gilbert said.

Antonio frowned, "I thought you didn't like Lovi?"

"I don't, but I'm a nice person who won't let innocent bystanders be put in harm's way!" Gilbert said proudly.

"We need to find a way to distract them, and then we can rush onto their ship and save the bratty Italian!" Francis said enthusiastically. They all agreed and got to work brainstorming. How could they get those Vikings out of there? Antonio and his crew were greatly outnumbered. The Vikings consisted on Mathias, Tino, a Norwegian boy named Lucas and a Swedish boy named Berwald. And of course little Emil, who was Lucas's younger half-brother.

"What if we 'abandon' our ship?" Antonio suggested, making air quotations when he said abandon. "We leave, and when they come over to take our ship we grab Lovino! Then we run back to our ship and chase them away!" Francis and Gilbert both agreed, stating it was a flawless plan (and for a bunch of fifth graders on a playground, it was).

So they all jumped off the red structure and made their way quietly around the playground. After a few minutes, Mathias, Tino and Lucas left their ship to go see where the 'pirates' had run off to. That meant only Berwald had been left on the ship! (And Emil too but he wasn't a threat.)

"I know how to distract Berwald!" Gilbert said proudly. Quickly, the three kids boarded the Viking ship.

Berwald stood up and towered over the three pirates. How was a fifth grader this tall!? The three stopped in their tracks, Francis and Antonio turning to Gilbert. "So, what's your plan?" Francis whispered into Gilbert's ear.

"U-uh," Gilbert stuttered. Gilbert had underestimated just how intimidating the tall swede was. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, Gilbert walked up to Berwald, snatched his glasses off of his face, and started running. Immediately, Berwald chased after him.

"Wow that was actually a good idea!" Antonio cheered as he climbed up to the tallest part of the blue structure, where Lovino and Emil sat. "Lovi! I've come to rescue you!"

Lovino turned to look at him, unimpressed. "Why?"

"Because we're friends!" He took Lovino's hands and tried to tug him up, but the moody Italian child refused to move. "C'mon Lovi let's go!"

"Why should I?" Lovino spat. "They gave me pretzels!" He said, pointing to Emil who was holding the bag now. Emil was nibbling on a pretzel and watching Gilbert get chased around.

"I'll give you tomatoes! You like tomatoes more, right?"

"Make it three and you have a deal."

"Yes! Deal! C'mon Lovi!" Antonio said, pulling Lovino down the slide with him. Francis followed after, and soon they returned to their ship. Mathias, Tino and Lucas were now helping Berwald chase Gilbert.

"Gil, come back we saved the kid!" Francis called.

"Oh good!" Gilbert yelled. "Here, you can have these back!" Turning on his heel, Gilbert chucked the glasses at the Vikings.

"If you broke them we'll kill you!" Tino threatened, picking up the glasses and dusting them off before giving them back to Berwald.

Once the pirates were safely on their ship, they ran about and yelled taunts at the Vikings. But their celebration was cut short when the 5th graders teacher blew the whistle, signaling the end of playtime.

"Nooo," Gilbert whined, "I don't wanna go in!"

"We have to make sure we get outside before the Vikings tomorrow." Francis advised. "We need to defend out ship!"

"Yeah!" Antonio agreed. He turned around to look for Lovino, only to see the Italian child was already walking back over to the swings! (The third graders didn't have to go back inside yet). "Ah, Lovi wait!" Antonio called after his friends. With a loud sigh, Lovino turned around.

"What do you want now!?" He spat.

"Let's meet in the forest after school!" Antonio said, grinning. He watched as Lovino's face turned red.

"O-Only if you bring the tomatoes… Stupid."

Antonio beamed. "Of course! By Lovi, see you later!" Then the small Spaniard scampered off to join his class where they were lining up, waiting to go back inside.

Lovino huffed and turned to go back to the swings, only to find there were none of them were free. "Augh, stupid Toño… Now I don't get to swing."

~XXX~

After school Antonio quickly grabbed a few tomatoes and stuck them into his backpack, before running out into the forest. His parents were okay with his forest outings as long as he came home before dark, and were even considering buying him a cellphone so he could contact them. When Antonio could hear the soft gurgle of the stream he felt a familiar spark of joy in his chest and hurried to reach his and Lovino's cottage. It didn't look too different from the first time they found it, covered in leaves and ivy. There were more wildflowers now and even more green and Antonio was convinced that someday they wouldn't even be able to see the base of the house. With a wide grin Antonio ducked into a crack on the side of the cottage and was met with the sight of Lovino sitting in his favorite patch of ferns and doodling on some papers nestled in his lap. Lovino had brought his backpack too, they often worked on their homework together.

"Hiya Lovi!" Antonio greeted, sitting down next to his friend. "What are you doing?" He peered over at the papers in Lovino's lap.

"Math," The child spat, glaring at the papers in his lap like he wanted them to burst into flame.

"I could help," Antonio offered brightly. He was pretty good at math. Numbers were basically the same in Spanish and English. Lovino picked up his papers and plopped them into Antonio's lap.

"Knock yourself out."

"No I meant like I'd teach you! I won't do it for you, you have to learn yourself." Antonio scolded, but scanned Lovino's work to see what he was learning. He wasn't surprised however to find that Lovino hadn't actually started and the page was full of drawings. Some tomatoes, some turtles, some flowers… Antonio grinned. "Your drawings are pretty."

Lovino's face turned a familiar red at the compliment and he ripped the papers out of Antonio's hands. "If you aren't going to help me then shut up!"

"Ah, Lovi!" Antonio cried, "I'll help, I'll help!" But Lovino had already stuffed the papers back into his backpack.

"Where are my tomatoes?" Lovino asked, "I was promised tomatoes."

Antonio rolled his eyes and dug into his backpack for his friend's favorite food. Carefully he placed the red fruit into the Italian's waiting hands and watched him closely. Lovino inspected the tomato, turning it over in his hands and scrunching up his face in confusion. Antonio couldn't keep the grin off of his face.

"Why is this tomato different?" Lovino asked suspiciously.

"How is it different?" Antonio inquired, watching with anticipation.

"I dunno, stupid!" Lovino huffed, annoyed. "It just is! Don't ask me stupid questions! And stop looking at me like that! Just tell me what you did to the damn tomato!" Suddenly he looked horrified. "Did you poison it!?"

"No!" Antonio interjected, "Of course not! Why on earth would I poison my best friend!?" Antonio was horrified at the thought. "It's a special tomato is all, and I want you to eat it!"

Begrudgingly, Lovino took a hesitant bite. He chewed slowly and swallowed, and Antonio waited with bated breath for any form of reaction. "Well…?" He prompted, after a few seconds of silence.

"It tastes like a tomato."

"But was it better or worse than the usual tomatoes!?"

"It tastes like a fucking tomato, what more do you want!?"

Antonio groaned. "It's a special tomato! It's one of the first ones that _finally_ grew in my garden! I need to know if it tastes better or worse than the ones we get at the market."

"It tastes like a tomato." Was Lovino's final answer.

* * *

 **Hello again guys! I'm sorry this chapter is so short, but I really wanted to get it out before I left for camp. Thank you so much for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi guys! I'm back from camp (it was amazing omg). Also, I read all the reviews and they make me so happy 3 Now that I don't have as many summer plans i'll start trying to respond to them! Anyways, here's the next chapter!**

* * *

Chapter 3: Sick

Antonio woke up in the middle of the night. His head felt fuzzy and his stomach felt queasy and his face felt hot. To put it simply, he felt sick. He opened his mouth to call for his mother, but trying to speak caused his throat to burn. Antonio blinked back tears and struggled to sit up in bed; he'd always hated getting sick. It was probably because of the weather. It was January and there was a lot of snow and Antonio might have spent too long playing outside yesterday. Carefully, Antonio crawled out of bed. He had to sit on the edge of his mattress for a minute waiting for his light headedness to dissipate. Once he was sure he wouldn't faint, Antonio made his way to his parents room. He creaked open the door and slipped inside. He was confused for a second, seeing only one figure sleeping in the king sized bed. It was Antonio's father; he always slept on the left side of the bed. Antonio padded quietly over to his father and climbed up onto the bed, shaking his shoulder.

"Papa," he croaked, ignoring the flame in his throat.

There was a muffled groan as Antonio's father woke up. "Antonio?" He said groggily. "What's wrong?"

"… hurts. T-throat…" He croaked out, pointing to his neck. Mr. Fernandez Carriedo grunted as he sat up, rubbing his eyes. He glanced at the clock on the bedside table. 4:23.

"Okay, go lay back down. I'll get you some water. Can you swallow a pill?" He asked his son softly. Antonio nodded and turned to head back to his own room. He padded down the dark hallway, suddenly very cold. He quickly bundled himself up under his blankets and sought out the stuffed turtle that always resided on the edge of his bed; it was the one Lovino gave him. He clutched the stuffed animal close to his chest and choked back tears. He really hated being sick. A few minutes later his father came into the room with a glass of water and a pill. He coaxed Antonio into a sitting position and handed him the pill and water. The child placed the pill on his tongue and gulped down the water eagerly, swallowing the pill and calming the fire in his throat temporarily.

"Can I get you anything else?" Daniel Fernandez Carriedo asked, ruffling his son's hair.

"Where's mamma?"

"Don't you remember? She's on a business trip; she'll be back in three days. Scoot over." He said, lying down next to Antonio. Antonio scooted over, making room for his father on his small bed. "Do you think you'll be well enough for school?"

Antonio frowned. He always hated missing school, but he felt terrible right now.

"It's ok, you can decide in the morning." Daniel said. "How about I sing you a song, huh?"

Antonio giggled. "You're a terrible singer."

His father gasped dramatically. "That's not true!" He opened his mouth and began to sing, and Antonio erupted into another fit of giggles. His father really could not sing. He had no range and even though he was musical he could not keep a tune. But soon his giggles turned into coughs that burned his throat and his father quickly handed him the glass of water. "Okay, no more singing." Daniel said. "How about I play my guitar instead?" Antonio nodded enthusiastically. He watched his father get off of the bed and leave the room. Quickly, Antonio occupied the space where his father had been.

Without his father in the way he could look out the window. It was surprisingly light out, the moon casting light down onto the white snow. It wasn't snowing hard and there was no wind, just big fat flakes floating onto the ground, covering it with a thick blanket. Their house was only one story so Antonio could see the ground perfectly. Looking back up, he watched the forest. The trees were all bare, their branches sagging with the weight of the snow. It wasn't his first snowfall; it'd been almost two years since he moved to America after all.

But Antonio still thought it looked beautiful. He'd never had this much snow in Spain. Antonio had decided he really didn't hate America anymore. He heard footsteps and looked up as his father entered the room, carrying his old guitar. He settled himself in the rocking chair by the window and began playing.

It wasn't a specific tune, just some soft melody that probably went with a lullaby. Had his mother been singing it would have been perfect. "Papa," he said softly, "Will you teach me to play the guitar?"

Daniel never stopped playing and smiled at his son, "of course. Now go to sleep." Antonio smiled softly and snuggled farther into his blankets, holding that turtle close to his chest. He felt safe and warm and happy… and soon enough had drifted asleep to the sound of his father's guitar and the falling snow.

~XXX~

Antonio woke up to his father shaking him. He yawned and winced at how much that hurt his throat. His father handed him a glass of apple juice and Antonio gulped it down. He handed the glass back to his father and looked up at him. He was dressed for work and carrying a thermometer. He stuck the cold metal object under Antonio's tongue and Antonio sat there pouting, waiting for the result. A minute later his father took the thermometer and looked at it.

"You have a fever, no school for you."

Antonio just nodded. It's not like he could argue, no matter how much he wanted to go to school. If he went he could just get the other kids sick too. This was the best plan of action.

"I can't leave you home alone though…" His father said. "I'll be right back; I have to make a call." Antonio sat in silence as he waited for his father to come back. The call didn't take long because he was back in no time, with a smile on his face. "I called the Vargas residence; they're willing to watch you for the day."

Antonio's eyes lit up. "So I can play with Lovi?" He croaked.

Daniel laughed and ruffled his hair, "Well, Lovino will be at school… So you'll just be hanging out at his home. Is that okay with you?"

Antonio nodded.

"Great. Now get up and get dressed, I'll make you breakfast."

"I'm not hungry."

"Tough luck kid, I'm making you bread and jam! You need to eat!" His father declared, standing up and exiting the room. Antonio just rolled his eyes.

~XXX~

"Good morning Antonio, Daniel!" Romulus greeted the two as they entered the Vargas mansion. "How are you feeling?" He asked Antonio.

"Sick." Antonio said.

"Ah, you sound sick." Romulus said, leading them through the hallways. "As you know I have to go to work as well, but Isabella can watch Antonio. Is that okay with you Toni?"

Antonio nodded. He liked Isabella; she was nice and always made him cookies. She was Lovino and Feliciano's nanny and was always fussing over them. And recently Antonio was also fussed over, considering how much time he spent at the Italian's household.

"Antonio, would you like to lie on the couch, or a bed in a guest bedroom?" Romulus asked.

"Couch," Antonio decided. The bedrooms were always too big to be alone in. When he and Lovino had sleepovers they always shared Lovino's king sized bed.

"Okay!" Romulus said. "Couch it is!"

"Toni, Papa has to go to work." Daniel said, giving Antonio a kiss on the top of his head. "Be good and call me if you need anything." He looked up, "Thank you so much Romulus, this is a big help. I'd take a day off from work but…" He trailed off.

Romulus laughed, "It's no problem. I understand. Isabella will take good care of him." As the grownups talked Lovino made his way to the couch. He lay down and closed his eyes, drifting off quickly.

~XXX~

His nap didn't last long however. Isabella was trying to get the Italian brothers ready for school and they were being difficult as usual, making a bunch of noise. Antonio could hear their voices from down the hallway. He'd never actually been at their house before school, but he wasn't surprised. He smiled, listening to the familiar chaos.

"Feliciano, please, put on your clothes! This is getting ridiculous! Lovino, stop that! Where did you put your backpack?" There were thumps and swears (undoubtedly Lovino's) and the two Italian brothers burst into the living room.

"Toni!" Feliciano cheered, bounding over to him.

"Leave him alone Feli, Nonno said he was sick!" Lovino scolded, walking over slowly.

"Hi Feli, Hi Lovi." Antonio greeted them both weakly.

"You look like shit." Lovino said, looking amused.

"I feel like shit." Antonio agreed, closing his eyes. Then Isabella burst into the room, frazzled as usual.

"Boys, please leave Antonio alone. He needs his rest so he can feel better. If he feels better than you can play together after school." She said, rushing over to Antonio's side.

"Che, it's no fair. Antonio doesn't have to go to school!" Lovino whined. "I don't wanna either!"

"Too bad, you aren't sick." She said, hands on her hips. "Now, what did you do with your backpack?"

"Try looking in the closet under the stairs," Antonio advised. He knew all of Lovino's favorite hiding spots.

"Traitor!" Lovino spat, turning on his heels. Isabella shot Antonio a grateful look and hurried after Lovino.

Feli climbed up onto the couch and situated himself next to Antonio. "Are you staying with us now?" he asked, bilking his big amber eyes.

"Huh?" Antonio questioned.

"Your parents left you with Nonno. That's what our parents did."

Antonio looked at the child with confusion. The topic of the Italian's parents was never really brought up, it always upset Lovino. "Ah, no Feli. My mamma is on a business trip and papa is at work. I'm just staying for today."

"Oh, okay!" Feli said brightly.

"Feliciano!" Came a call from down the hall. "Where is your jacket!? We're going to be late!" Isabella cried frantically.

"Ah, Coming!" Feli cried, scrambling off of the couch. "See you after school Toni!"

"Don't touch any of my stuff!" Lovino yelled from the front door. Antonio rolled his eyes. "And… And get better so we can play later!" The young Spaniard smiled at his friends hidden concern.

"Okay!" Antonio called back as loudly as he could, and immediately regretted it.

"I'll be back soon Antonio!" Isabella called. Antonio only nodded, even though she couldn't see him. He listened quietly as the door was opened and shut, and Antonio finally relaxed. It didn't take long to drift off again.

~XXX~

The rest of the day went smoothly. Isabella came back from dropping the brothers off at school and immediately started tending to Antonio. She got him blankets and tissues and pillows, but all Antonio really wanted to do was sleep. She tried to get him to eat, but he was still full from his breakfast. Well, he just wasn't really hungry. He must have slept for a long time, because soon enough Lovino and Feliciano were back from school.

"And Alfred stole my crayons!"

"I drew a pretty picture!"

"Music class sucks, why are we playing the fucking recorder!?"

"I got a sticker!"

Antonio chuckled, listening to the brothers trying to tell Isabella about their day.

"Hey Bastard," Antonio looked up to see Lovino had entered the living room. "Are you still sick?"

Antonio hummed quietly in thought. "Yeah, but I feel a lot better. How was school?"

Quickly, Lovino climbed onto the couch. Antonio shifted from his position lying down to one where he was sitting up, allowing Lovino to cuddle up next to him. Lovino was cold, probably from playing outside during recess. Antonio draped the blanket over Lovino as well, allowing them to share.

"Stupid." Lovino started, "I wish I got to stay home! Alfred took my crayons, and he wouldn't give them back! And he just left them all over the classroom and I had to run around looking for them! I still can't find my red or blue…" Lovino complained.

"You'll find them." Antonio soothed. "I'm sure Alfred didn't mean to make you upset."

Lovino just huffed and continued talking about his day. "We went outside for recess and it was really fucking cold. I'm still freezing!" He exclaimed, sticking his hands on Antonio's neck. Antonio shrieked and batted his friend away.

"Lovi, you're freezing!" Lovino just laughed, and Antonio couldn't keep the smile off of his face. Just then Isabella came into the room. She looked at the two boys huddled together on the couch and looked concerned.

"Lovino, you might get sick if you stay too close to Antonio." She warned.

Lovino scowled at her, "No I won't." He argued. She just shook her head and sighed. There was no point trying to argue.

"Okay, fine. Suit yourself." She directed her attention to Antonio. "Toni, you should eat something." She advised, "You haven't eaten since breakfast."

"What!?" Lovino exclaimed, looking at Antonio in shock. "You love eating! You really are sick!"

"Ah, I guess I'm hungry now…" Antonio lied. He really wasn't hungry, but he didn't want Lovino to worry about him (at least not too much).

"Then, how about you make him some tomato soup Lovino?"

"W-what?" The Italian child spluttered. "Me?"

"Yes!" Isabella chirped. "I'll help you of course, but don't you think that would be nice?"

"I don't need any help!" Lovino argued, pushing back the blanket and getting off the couch. "I can do it myself!" He turned to look at Antonio, face red. "J-just sit there until I finish!"

Antonio nodded, grin taking up half his face. It wasn't often Lovino did anything for him, but when he did Antonio was always happy. Isabella smiled kindly at Antonio and followed Lovino into the kitchen. In the meantime, Feliciano came to keep Antonio company.

"Hiya Toni! What did you do today?" He chirped happily.

"Me? Oh, I just slept."

"Ve, that sounds fun! I like sleeping, but I had to go to school. But school is fun too."

"What did you do at school today?" He asked while snuggling into the blankets, prepared to half-listen to Feliciano's rundown of his day.

"Well we did some reading, and I got to read out loud! My teacher says I'm really advanced! I can sing the whole alphabet. We didn't get to go outside for recess though, so I was sad. But I drew a pretty picture and Ludwig said it was pretty and the teacher hung it up on the wall! And then I played with the Lego sets with Kiku…" Antonio zoned out and stopped listening. He didn't mean to be rude, but the sounds coming from the kitchen were much more interesting.

"Lovino, put the knife down you might get hurt!"

"I can do it damn it!"

"Let me cut the tomatoes, okay? You can fill up the measuring cup."

"Fine…"

There was a little bit of silence and the sound of running water before a crash.

"Lovino!"

"It slipped, the handle was wet, and it's not my fucking fault!"

Antonio's eavesdropping was cut short when he started coughing violently. Feliciano quickly stopped telling his story. "Toni, are you ok!? Do you want some water?"

Antonio covered his mouth with his hand and tried to stifle his coughing, but it only burned his throat further. He shook his head 'no' and pointed to the still full glass of apple juice that was on the coffee table. Feli grabbed the cup and handed it to Antonio who quickly drank it down. After he drained the cup of its contents he placed the cup back on the table and slumped onto the couch. Feli got the message that Antonio wasn't up for any more stories and quickly scampered off to the kitchen.

~XXX~

"Okay bastard, wake up! I went through the trouble of cooking you food so now you have to eat it!" Antonio opened his eyes to find Lovino above him, glaring down.

"Hiya Lovi." He said groggily, struggling to sit up. Lovino rolled his eyes and propped Antonio's pillows up.

"Here." Lovino said, once Antonio was situated, and handed him a hot bowl of tomato soup.

"You made this?" Antonio said, unable to keep the grin off of his face. He looked up at his friend, only to find Lovino looking embarrassedly at the ground and ringing his hands nervously, his face a tomato red.

"Y-yeah… A-and I don't care how bad it tastes, Isabella said you had to eat it all!" The Italian child sputtered. "Because you haven't eaten anything all day and it's not healthy…" He mumbled as an afterthought.

"Of course!" Antonio chirped, although it hurt his throat and came out more gravely. Antonio took a spoonful of the soup and blew gently, trying to cool it off. Lovino was watching him with bated breath, obviously nervous. This was the first time he'd ever cooked Antonio anything, and he really wanted him to like it. Ever so slowly Antonio raised the spoon to his mouth and swallowed, a thoughtful look on his face.

"W-well?" Prompted Lovino, looking at the floor.

"Lovi, it's delicious!" Antonio exclaimed. And it really was (although the fact that he hadn't eaten anything in a while might have contributed to its deliciousness).

"Really?" Lovino's head snapped up, hazel eyes locking on Antonio. "Is it really or are you just saying that to make me feel better?"

"I really, really mean it!" Antonio said, taking another spoonful into his mouth. "You should cook for me more often!"

Lovino huffed, crossing his arms, a self-satisfied smile on his face. "Don't get used to it. It's just because you're sick and I don't want you to die."

"Then, the next time I'm sick will you cook for me?"

"W-who knows? Bastard."

Antonio just smiled and ate his soup happily. He would gladly eat anything Lovino made for him. His eating was interrupted however when he sneezed.

"Ew, cover your mouth when you sneeze!" Lovino scolded. "That's disgusting!"

"Sorry Lovi," sniffled Antonio. "I didn't want the soup to spill. Could you pass me a tissue?"

With a roll of his eyes Lovino reached for the box of tissues. Antonio, who had been looking down at his soup suddenly looked up when he heard the soft thud of the tissue box hitting the floor. "Why'd you throw them on the ground?"

Lovino, who was looking at the tissue box with disdain, huffed, "I didn't throw them, damn it!"

"Then why are they on the floor?"

"They just are!" The child snapped, picking up the box and thrusting them in Antonio's face.

"Okay, if you say so Lovi." Antonio sighed, not wanting to make Lovino mad. He took a tissue and blew his nose, before starting back on the soup. In the meantime, Lovino climbed up on the couch next to Antonio, picking up the blanked that had fallen to the floor and wrapping it around himself. Antonio finished his soup and set the empty bowl on the coffee table. "Lovi, I'm cold too!" He complained, snuggling up next to his friend. Lovino grumbled but allowed Antonio under the blanket as well. "You're being so nice today."

"Don't get used to it, it's only because you're sick."

"Okay," hummed Antonio. The Spanish child yawned and leaned his head on Lovino's shoulder. "Hey Lovi?"

"… What?" Came Lovino's quiet reply.

"Do you think our cottage looks pretty in the snow?"

"I dunno."

"I wanna go see it." Antonio said, "When I'm not sick."

"Sure."

"You'll come with me?"

"Stupid, of course I will. Now shut up and sleep."

Antonio closed his eyes and grinned, snuggling into his friend's side. "Okay. I'll do that."

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 **Thank you all so much for reading! I have so many things planned for this once Toni and Lovi get older (mwahaha). And in this chapter Lovi is still in 3rd grade and Toni is still in 5th grade, it's just winter now.**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Birthdays and Bullies

"Happy birthday!" Antonio screamed, tackling Lovino into a hug as soon as he opened the front door.

"What the fuck bastard, get off!" The little Italian complained half-heartedly. Secretly he loved the attention. "I'm ten fucking years old now!"

Antonio laughed and released his friend. Today was March 17th, both Lovino and Feliciano's birthday. It was also St. Patrick's Day! "Lovi, do you have any Irish in you?"

"Fuck no. God damn it, I hate my birthday! Not only do I have to share it with my little brother, but with that stupid holiday too! Why is it even considered a holiday!? Everyone just pretends to be Irish! And how could you even ask that, I'll a full blooded Italian!"

Antonio chuckled, "Ah, Lovi, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to offend you…"

"Whatever bastard," Lovino said, taking his hand. "Let's just go inside." The Italian led Antonio inside the Vargas mansion. Immediately, Antonio was swarmed with lots of little kids, all yelling and cheering and he had no clue who any of them were.

"L-Lovi, who are these kids?"

"I have no clue, Feli invited them." Lovino sighed, tugging Antonio away from the swarm. Looking around, Antonio was quite impressed with the decorations. Red, white and green steamers and balloons hung on every exposed surface. Antonio had had his 12th birthday last month, on February 12th and it was nowhere near this spectacular. He was almost a little jealous of the giant pile of presents he saw (it was like Christmas!). That's right, presents! Antonio quickly forgot his jealousy when he remembered the stuffed turtle and 25 dollar Amazon gift card Lovino had given him. Now he had two stuffed turtles from Lovino, and he could use the gift card to buy even more! Although, that wouldn't be as special… maybe he'd buy something else. "What are you smiling about?" Lovino asked, shutting the door to his room and blocking out the noise of the party downstairs.

"Ah, nothing!" Antonio said quickly, throwing himself onto Lovino's giant bed.

"Whatever." Lovino took a seat on the edge of the bed and sat there quietly.

"What do you want to do?" Antonio asked. Lovino simply shrugged and Antonio took notice of how gloomy his friend looked. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine." Lovino breathed.

"Are you sure?" Antonio crawled over to where Lovino sat. "You seem sad."

"I'm not sad," he protested. "Just… tired."

"Well, don't be too tired, because I have to give you my present!"

Antonio didn't miss the way Lovino seemed to liven up at the mention of presents. "Really?"

"Yep! It's in our cottage though, so we have to go get it."

"Ugh," Loving groaned, flopping back on the bed. "Of course you'd make me work for it."

Antonio laughed and lay next to his friend. "Did you invite any of your other friends over?"

"I invited Emil but he's at his dad's house. Can we go get my present now? I want to get out of here, it's too noisy. Feli has too many friends."

"Of course!" Antonio shouted, rolling off of Lovino's bed and falling to the floor with a soft thump.

Lovino just rolled his eyes. They walked downstairs and Lovino explained to Isabella where they were going. She said it was fine, but the poor girl was hardly listening. "Okay," she had agreed, "Just be back before five." She had her hands full with all of Feli's friends. So Lovino and Antonio just headed out the door.

~XXX~

"There is no way this is going to work, get your fucking hands off of me!" Lovino was thrashing about, trying to remove Antonio's hands from his eyes.

"No," Antonio whined, "It needs to be a surprise!"

"I'm going to fall into the dirt!"

"No you won't! Just take a few more steps!" Antonio guided him forward a few more steps before finally pausing. "Are you ready?" Lovino just mumbled something incoherent under his breath. Antonio shrugged before removing his hands from Lovino's eyes and stepping away from him, "Happy birthday!" He cried, for the second time that day.

Lovino looked at the large kite in front of him with mild confusion. "Is it shaped like a turtle?" Antonio nodded enthusiastically. The Italian walked over to the large kite, it was probably bigger than him honestly. "It's cool." Antonio's face fell. Did Lovino not like it? Was he just being polite? But when he turned away from the kite to face Antonio again his cheeks were flushed and he was holding back a smile. Antonio immediately perked up, Lovino did like it!

"Really? You think so?" He coaxed.

"W-well, Yeah, I guess." Lovino muttered. "And it's a turtle, so… of course I fucking like it!" He finished quickly. "Can we go to the park and fly it?"

"Now?"

"No, in a week. Yes, Now! The weather's nice today… And I really don't want to go back home."

Antonio nodded in understanding. Lovino had never liked large crowds. "Should we tell Isabella where we're going so she doesn't worry?"

"Nah," Lovino said, "The parks not far from here, we'll be fine." Antonio nodded and picked up the large green turtle kite. It was a little hard getting the kite out of the forest without scratching it, but Antonio had managed to get it in unscratched, he could get it out too. After a bit of struggling they finally got out of the woods behind Antonio's house. They walked to the front and started walking to the park.

~XXX~

There weren't a lot of people at the park; which was surprising considering it was such a nice day in March. Then again everyone was probably at St. Patrick's Day parties.

"C'mon let's go fly it in the field, no one's playing there!" Antonio said, walking with Lovino to the soccer field.

"How the fuck do we get this thing off the ground?" Lovino swore, looking at the kite in annoyance.

"I think," Antonio started, "One of us holds the string, and the other runs with the kite?" He'd only flown kites a few times with his family.

"Okay, you run then." Lovino advised. Antonio frowned.

"But Lovi, you're faster than me, shouldn't you run?"

"It's my birthday and I don't want to run." Well, Antonio couldn't argue with that. It was Lovino's birthday so Antonio would do whatever to make sure he had fun!

"Okay, hold the string. Make sure you unravel it fast while I run." Antonio explained and Lovino rolled his eyes, claiming that he knew at least that much. Antonio picked up the large turtle kite. "Okay, I'm going to start running!" So Antonio turned and bolted, holding the kite above his head and hoping it would catch in the wind. He felt the kite being tugged upward and let go. Looking up, Antonio saw the kite rising into the air. Excitedly, he turned to Lovino, "It worked!" He cheered, making his way back to his friend.

Lovino had a small grin on his face as he watched his kite fly in the wind. "A flying turtle," he muttered, "I never thought I'd see the day." Antonio burst out laughing.

"Isn't that saying supposed to be for pigs?"

The Italian scowled, "I can say whatever I fucking want!" Antonio just laughed again, and Lovino cracked another small, sheepish smile. They watched the kite together for a few more minutes, until the kite took a nosedive. "The Kite!" Lovino cried, running over to where the kite had landed. To his relief, it was undamaged.

"Kite's do that a lot, I think." Antonio said, walking up behind Lovino. "Let's fly it again!" Lovino nodded enthusiastically. The two managed to get the kite back up into the air with minimal difficulty. Every now and then it would lose the gust of wind it was riding on and come crashing down. But Neither Antonio or Lovino really minded. Antonio even managed to convince Lovino to run with the kite a few times.

They had just gotten the kite back up into the air when they heard footsteps from behind them. Antonio turned around quickly, only to come face-to-face with four kids about his age. They looked familiar…

Lovino turned his head to look too, holding the kite's string firmly in front of him.

"No way!" One of the kids exclaimed, looking at Antonio. "It is him!"

Antonio was confused for a second… until he realized; these were the kids from third grade; the ones who picked on him the most and made his life a living hell. His hands balled into fists and his stomach knotted up. And whatever he was about to say died in his throat.

"Whoa, it is!" The second boy said, "I never thought I'd see you again!"

"Yeah, you just suddenly disappeared! We all thought you went back to Mexico or something!" The first kid laughed.

Antonio's former nervousness was replaced with rage. He was from Spain for fucks sake!

"Fuck off!" Everyone's attention had snapped to Lovino. He was giving the four boys a death glare. "He's Spanish you Assholes, now leave us the fuck alone!"

The boys stood stunned for a second or two before bursting out laughing. "The hell!? Who's this kid?" The fourth boy laughed. "Why don't you go play on the swings, huh kid?"

Lovino absolutely hated being called a kid. And he was only two fucking years younger than these assholes! He was about to yell at them again when they started harassing Antonio again.

"He hasn't said a word, do you thing he still can't speak English?" The first asked, eying Antonio with amusement.

"Wow, how stupid can you get! He left our school because he was being _bullied_ and still can't speak English! That's weak man." They all bust out laughing again. Antonio wanted to run away, but his feet seemed to be glued to the ground. He couldn't move, couldn't speak… He hated these boys. He just wanted them to leave. One of the boys moved an arm, attempting to reach for Antonio, but to everyone's surprise Lovino stepped in front. The kite had fallen to the ground.

"Leave us the hell alone!" He snapped, slapping the boys hand away. "I'll get my grandfather!"

"Oh really? And where is he? Not here, that's for sure!" One of the boys snarled. "You sure swear a lot for someone so tiny. You shouldn't play with the big kids." He scolded mockingly. Lovino opened his mouth to retort, but one of the other boys had shoved him. Hard. He fell onto the ground with a thud and the only sound that came out of his mouth was a pained and startled grunt. He sat there stunned and looking up at the older boys, eyes starting to water.

"Oh my god, he's going to cry!" They laughed. "What a baby!"

Suddenly there was a loud 'smack' and the laughter stopped. Everyone turned to see that Antonio had just punched one of the boys square in the jaw.

"Don't. Touch. Him." He snarled, turning on one of the other boys and punching him in the face. Antonio's normally soft green eyes were hard and cold and he couldn't remember the last time he felt so angry. How dare these boys touch his Lovino? How dare they hurt him? It was Lovino's birthday; he was supposed to be happy! He and Antonio were supposed to be running around the park having fun with the kite. This wasn't supposed to happen.

"W-what the fuck man!" One of the boys that hadn't been punched yet said, backing up. "We were just playing; we didn't mean to make him cry…"

Antonio wasn't having it. He jumped at the boy with a cry of fury and tackled him to the dirt, kicking and punching and spitting in the kids face. Soon the other boys jumped in, trying to drag Antonio off of their friend. Antonio kicked at their shins, sending them to the dirt. It felt good, finally taking out his anger on the people that had made him miserable. At the people who hurt Lovino. Sure, he'd gotten in a few punches during recess, but there were always teachers to pull them apart. There weren't any here. Antonio knew he was majorly outnumbered, but he didn't care. Because every kick and every punch made him feel powerful and more alive than he had been in a while.

"Stop! Antonio _stop_!" Lovino shrieked, watching, terrified, as Antonio managed to hold his own against four other boys. He didn't want to cry, he really didn't… He couldn't stand watching his friend beat up and get beat up by these kids. He wanted to go. He wanted Antonio to stop. "A-Antonio…" He sobbed. "Just s-stop." He hiccupped. "I wanna go home… Antonio!"

Hearing his name, Antonio was confused. Who was calling for him and why? They sounded sad…

Lovino.

Antonio snapped back to attention. With a powerful shove he pushed the boys off of him and scrambled to his feet, spitting up some blood onto the grass. Lovino was sad. Lovino was crying. Lovino wanted to go home. He had to make sure he was okay. Quickly Antonio grabbed Lovino's hand and pulled him up off the ground. Then he made a beeline for the kite. To his utter relief, his old classmates weren't following. They were too busy picking themselves out of the dirt and checking their wounds. Antonio grabbed the kite with his free hand, his other hand holding Lovino's, and walked out of the park.

The two boys were silent as they walked. Except for Lovino's sniffling. For the most part he had calmed down, but no matter how many times he wiped his eyes with his sleeve, tears still fell. He was holding Antonio's hand tightly, and Antonio was amazed at how strong his small grip was. They cut into the woods before they came to Antonio's house. He didn't want to risk his parent's seeing them. Silently, they climbed their way back up the hill. Leaves crunched as they maneuvered through the woods, avoiding rocks and climbing over fallen trees. And not once did they let go of the other's hand.

And finally, they were in their crumbling cottage. Leaving the kite on the ground outside, Antonio and Lovino sat in silence. The usual green was gone; none of the plants had yet grown back from the winter.

"Are you okay?" Lovino asked quietly, squeezing Antonio's hand.

"Huh?"

"You're bleeding…" Lovino pointed out. Antonio reached his hand up to his face and felt the blood from his split lip. And suddenly the wounds started to hurt. He was sore and bruised and bleeding… And he had ruined Lovino's birthday.

"I'm sorry."

Lovino was confused. "Sorry for what? You… stood up for me, I guess… I mean fighting with them was an absolutely terrible idea. There were four of them! You could have gotten really hurt!" Lovino's voice shook and he choked back tears at the thought of how badly that could have gone.

"I'm sorry." Antonio repeated, pulling Lovino close and wrapping his arms around him. "I ruined your birthday."

Lovino didn't bother struggling in Antonio's arms. He needed the comfort. "No, those four losers did. They were assholes."

"Thank you for defending me, Lovi." Antonio muttered quietly.

"Of course, stupid…" Lovino said softly. "I wasn't going to let them talk to you like that… Those were the kids you told me about, right? The ones that bullied you before you switched schools?" Antonio nodded his head against Lovino's shoulder. "Well, they'll probably think twice before messing with you again, if you ever see them again that is. There were four of them and you managed to hold your own, you crazy bastard…"

Antonio chuckled humorlessly. "Only two of them actually knew how to fight."

"Oh, and you do?"

"I managed to hold my own, didn't I?" Lovino just rolled his eyes.

"Whatever… Just promise me you won't fight on a regular basis… It was fucking scary."

"I promise. And in the summer I'll bring you lots of tomatoes to make up for it."

"You better."

Antonio grinned, holding Lovino ever closer. "Happy birthday."

"You do realize you're getting blood on me, right?"

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" Antonio exclaimed, pulling away from Lovino. Lovino just laughed.

"I don't care." He rolled his eyes and leaned his head against Antonio's shoulder. "Do you think we should go back now?"

"Probably…"

"In a few minutes then…?"

"Yeah," Antonio said as he grasped Lovino's hand again, "In a few minutes."

* * *

 **Heyyy guys! Sorry for the lack of update, my parents have decided they want to make my last bit of vacation very busy hahah...**

 **Also, I seem to have lost the reply links for the reviews (they are somewhere in my inbox I just can't find them woopsie). I have read them all and I really appreciate every single one of them! And I promise not to lose them in the future, I like replying XD. As you can tell I am still very new to fanfiction.**

 **TheFreakZone: Thank you so much for the information on the Spanish surnames! I'm definitely going to change the names eventually (I'm a lazy person haha).**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Papers and News

"You guys won't believe what my parents told me!" Gilbert shouted eagerly.

Francis and Antonio just exchanged confused gazes as they continued walking through the hallway to get to Gil and Franny's dorm room. "What?" They both asked in unison.

Gilbert just gave them a shit-eating-grin before bouncing off down the hall. Francis and Antonio rolled their eyes, and continued walking at a leisurely pace. More often than not, Antonio was the one visiting his friends in their dorm, rather than them coming over to his house. But it was always such a hassle, considering Antonio's mom always had to call up Francis's and Gilbert's moms to get permission to let them come over. And then Franny and Gil's moms would have to call the Academy and give them permission to let their children leave with some other woman that they have never met. Not to mention the time differences. And it would have been even harder, had their parents not known English.

"I wonder why he's so excited." Francis said nonchalantly.

"Who knows~." Antonio shrugged, as they rounded the corner and arrived at their dorm. Francis used his room key to open the door, and let Antonio inside. Gilbert had already seated himself in a beanbag chair in front of the TV. Not all the dorms had TV's, but when you have rich parents (such as both Gil and Franny's parents) you can put just about anything in your room.

"Okay Gilbo, spit it out! What's the big news?" Antonio said, before jumping onto the other side of the beanbag and sending Gill flying.

"Ouch, watch it Toni!" Gilbert whined, picking himself off the floor. "That's so unawesome." Antonio just chuckled. "Well, you see," The albino started, standing up and brushing off his pants. There were a lot of crumbs on the floor… "I got a call from my mom this morning, and guess what!"

"What!?" Both Antonio and Francis exclaim, exasperatedly. When would Gilbert get to the point!?

"My family is moving here, at the start of eighth grade! They're going to buy a house and everything!"

"Wow, that's awesome Gilbert!" Antonio cheered, "What if we end up as neighbors?"

"That would be so awesome dude!" While the two of them discussed how "awesome" the move was going to be, Francis stood quietly. When the other two finally noticed the solemn look on his face, Antonio flashed him a smile.

"Isn't this great Franny!"

To their utter surprise, Francis glared at them. Francis didn't get mad. He was cool headed and suave. "For you two." He spat, sitting down on his own bed.

"U-uh, Franny? Are you okay?" Gilbert asked tentatively.

"Just fine. Thinking about who my new roommate will be next year. Maybe I'll request Roderich, he's pretty quiet. Unlike you."

Gilbert stared at him in disbelief. "That prick!? You can't replace me with him!"

"Well, too bad because I'm going to. At least he won't leave a mess all over the room," Francis sneered, flicking a candy wrapper off of his bed.

"That's so fucking unawesome!" Gilbert yelled. "If I'm that much of a slob, why haven't you requested a new roommate already, huh!?"

Francis just ignored him. He curled up on his bed and grabbed his phone from the bedside table, before sticking his earbuds in his ears and pulling the blankets up over his head.

"Stupid Frenchie!" Gilbert hissed, more to himself. He turned on the TV and opened Netflix up, a scowl on his face. Antonio was awkwardly sitting there in the beanbag chair. This was the first time he'd ever seen Gilbert and Francis fight! I mean sure, they argued, but it had never seemed this serious. Antonio stood up slowly; looking from Francis's hunched up figure on the bed to Gilbert.

"U-uh, I have to go now…" Antonio murmured, making his way to the door. Gilbert just huffed and continued searching through shows to watch. Truthfully, Antonio really didn't have to leave. "Visiting hours" ended at eight, and it was only five. Usually, Antonio stayed until eight exactly, and sometimes stayed late enough for the teachers to come up to the room and kick him out. You have to sign in and out, so they always knew he hadn't left yet… And after he left, his mom or dad would always be waiting in the parking lot for him. But both of Antonio's parents were at work right now, and he still hadn't gotten a cellphone. So Antonio exited the room and walked back to the first floor, where the commons room was. There were some other kids milling about, playing board games or working on assignments. And some of the kids who didn't have TV's in their rooms were watching some sort of reality show on one of the TV's mounted on the wall. Antonio figured he could hang out down here for a while, maybe he could find some of his other classmates? But before he could even start searching for a classmate, he saw someone that made him brighten up immediately. Standing in a corner of the room, looking at his new phone (a birthday present), was Lovino.

"Lovi!" He cried, causing the auburn haired child to look up from his phone, startled. Excitedly, Antonio ran over to where Lovino was standing, "What are you doing here!?" He asked, pulling his friend into a tight hug.

"Stop that, what if I drop my phone!" Lovino protested while pushing Antonio away. "And my grandfather's the fucking headmaster, he had to check up on something and I was stuck tagging along."

"Oh of course! Have you just been standing here? How long is he going to be?" Antonio released his friend from the hug, instead opting to link his arm with Lovino's.

Lovino groaned at his friend's barrage of questions and unnecessary contact. "I dunno, not long? What do you care anyways, weren't you visiting those obnoxious friends of yours like usual?" Silently, he slipped his new phone into his pocket to prevent any damage from befalling it.

Immediately, Antonio's mood darkened. "Ah, I was…"

Lovino quirked an eyebrow, "And? It's still early isn't it?"

"Well yeah, but… But Gil and Franny got into an argument and it got all awkward!"

"What did they argue about?" Lovino asked, genuinely curious. It wasn't often Antonio got so worried when his friends fought, so this must have been more than just a petty argument.

"I don't know." Antonio sighed gloomily. "Gilbert was talking about how his parents are moving to America, and Francis got all mad!"

Lovino looked at his friend in disbelief. Sure he was a bit oblivious, but really? To be this blind was a little concerning to the young Italian. "Are you stupid?"

"Huh?" The Spaniard looked at his friend dumbly.

"Of _course_ Francis would be mad! Gilbert's just going to leave him and he's going to have to room with someone else! And while you two can get together so much easier now, because you aren't in the dorm, Francis will be stuck at the Academy all alone!" Lovino took a deep breath and wrenched his arm out of Antonio's. "As much as he annoys me, I'm with Francis on this one."

"But Lovi," Antonio whined, "We'd never do anything without Francis! He's always going to be our best friend!"

"Yeah, well tell that to the Frenchie!" Crossing his arms over his chest and scowling at Antonio he continued, "I can't believe you'd be that insensitive."

"Lovi I'm sorry! Please don't be mad at me!" Antonio cried, reaching out and grabbing his friends arm again.

" _I'm_ not mad at you, _Francis_ is!" Lovino shouted, pulling out of Antonio's grip once again.

"Uh, I'm pretty sure you're mad at me too now."

Lovino just rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Just go apologize to Francis and make up. You look stupid when you're worried." Antonio's eyes began to water and he continued staring at his friend with a dejected expression. Lovino regretted being so harsh. "I'm not mad, I'm really not. Just… go make up with Francis. He's just worried you and the albino are going to forget about him. So just… make sure he knows you won't or some shit, ok?" Embarrassedly, Lovino stuffed his hands in his pockets, his face flushing red.

"Okay!" Antonio brightened up considerably. "I'll go talk to him! Thank you Lovi!" Without thinking, Antonio pulled his friend into another one of his bone crushing hugs.

"Just go! You're going to break my ribs you bastard!"

With a laugh, Antonio let go and turned on his heels. "Thank you lovi!" Lovino just grunted and checked to make sure his phone was still in once piece in his pocket.

"Whatever." He grumbled quietly, watching Antonio retreat back to the stairs.

Antonio banged mercilessly against his friends door, and when Gilbert opened it he almost punched him in the face.

"Jesus Antonio, what the fuck!?" Gilbert yelled, as Antonio pushed past him and into the room.

"You guys have to make up!" The Spaniard declared, "Fighting is bad!"

Francis poked his head out from under the covers at Antonio's loud voice but remained silent.

"Make up? I'm not going to apologize, I've done nothing wrong. Francis is just being a little priss." Gilbert spat.

Francis sat up, pushing the covers off and turning angrily to Gilbert. "You are so self-centered, you know that!? God, I can't wait until I get a new roommate!"

"Oh, you wanna fight, blondie!?"

"Guys, guys, stop!" Cried Antonio. "Francis has the right to be a little mad…"

"What? Toni, why the hell are you siding with him?" Gilbert growled.

"Well, no! I'm not siding with either of you! But I understand now why Francis is upset! I mean, wouldn't you be too if Francis were the one leaving and _you_ had to get a new roommate?" Antonio explained, gesticulating wildly. "I mean, you were a little bit rude about it Francis, but you were just upset, no?"

Francis let out a long and tired sigh. "Yeah, whatever. I was a little rude, but you were rather insensitive of my feelings Gilbert."

"Well, you never told me your feelings!" The albino argued, crossing his arms over his chest defiantly. "I'm not a mind reader or some shit."

"Antonio was able to figure it out, how are you so blind!"

"Well actually," Antonio interrupted, "Lovi figured it out for me."

"Why am I not surprised…" Francis muttered, pulling at his hair in frustration.

"Antonio, what's so great about that kid anyways? You follow him around like a lost puppy! It's completely unawesome."

The curly haired boy frowned at his friends, detecting a slight change in topic. "I don't follow him like a puppy!" He denied. "Besides, I like Lovi. He's not as mean as you guys make him out to be."

"He tied my beautiful hair into knots at your birthday party!"

"He constantly calls me a potato bastard!"

"First off, he did warn you that if you kept pulling his hair he would tie yours into knots. And second, he uses bastard as a term of endearment." Frowning at his friends, Antonio continued, "And he's cute and has chubby cheeks and he says mean stuff but I don't think me means it half the time. And sure, when we first met we had no idea what the other was saying, and I'm sure that if I could have understood him I wouldn't have gotten so attached to him, but I did and I'm glad!"

"So you're saying that had you known he was swearing at you in Italian you wouldn't have been his friend?" Francis confirmed.

"Well, no, I'm sure we would still be friends… It was just easier to look past his foul mouth when I couldn't understand him! And you guys have completely changed the topic, we were supposed to be talking about you guys, not Lovi and I!"

Both Francis and Gilbert snickered before finally turning back to the original matter at hand.

"You have to explain your feelings first, before I apologize or anything." And then the mood turned sour again.

"I cannot believe you!" Francis cried, "I'm getting quite tired of your attitude Gilbert. You know very well why I'm upset!"

"Guys would you knock it off!? Why is this so difficult for you!?" Antonio interrupted, stomping his foot in irritation. "Francis, we love you, and even when Gilbert leaves we'll all still be great friends! Just because you two aren't going to room together anymore doesn't mean it's the end of the world. We can all just come back here after class, like normal! Gil and I would never leave you out of anything. Right Gil?" As he said that he flicked Gilbert in the back of the head.

"Ow, fuck, yes! Okay, fine! We love you Franny and I'm sorry!" Gilbert took a deep breath. "I was just pissed you'd even doubt that. And bringing up the prissy aristocrat was a low blow."

Francis just smiled smugly. "I know. I'm not mad. I just wanted you to apologize for being so insensitive."

"You prick!" Gilbert howled, tackling Francis onto the floor.

"Don't ruin my clothes you barbarian!"

"I'm going to tie your hair in fucking knots!"

And then the room was overcome with loud yelling in both French and German. Antonio just rolled his eyes and watched in amusement while his friends tried to beat each other up on the floor. This he was used too. Feeling much better, and very glad that his friends had worked things out, Antonio left the room to go find Lovi (if he was still there that is). And maybe he could even ask for a ride home; because as much as he loved his friends, he wasn't in the mood for such loud and obnoxious behavior. Thankfully, when he got back down to the commons room he saw Lovino standing in the same corner.

"Lovi!" He cried out happily, just as Lovino's arm twitched and he dropped his phone.

"God damn it you jerk, look what you made me do!"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!" Antonio said, rushing over to Lovino who was picking up his phone.

"Whatever." Lovino grumbled, sticking his phone in his pocket. "So, did your idiot friends make up?"

"Yep!" Antonio chirped happily.

"Okay, good for them." Lovino said dully. They stood in silence for a few seconds more before Lovino got tired of Antonio's blinding smile. "Do you need something?"

"Ah, Actually, I was wondering if your grandpa could give me a ride home."

Lovino scowled at this, "Doesn't your mom or dad usually drive you home?"

"Yes, but they're working."

"Because you don't usually leave until the last possible minute, right?"

"Well, I want to leave early today."

Lovino scrunched up his face in annoyance. "Why?"

"Lovi," Antonio whined, "I'm just tired! And Gil and Franny are being obnoxious."

"They're always obnoxious."

"Lovi!"

"Okay, okay, fucking fine! I'll ask _Nonno_!"

"Ask me what?" Startled, the boys turned around to find Romulus Vargas looking down on them with his ever-present easygoing smile.

"Hey gramps!" Antonio greeted him easily. He was never one for formalities, and Romulus never enforced them. "Would it be possible to catch a ride home? If not It's totally fine!"

"Oh, it's no problem Toni." Romulus said, ruffling the boy's hair. "We have time to drop you off at home before going to Lovino's appointment- Ow! Lovino, don't kick your grandfather, I'm old!"

"Shut up old man, you're still in your fifties!"

"Appointment?" Antonio questioned, ignoring the bickering grandparent and child. "What for?"

Romulus turned to Antonio with what looked like surprise on his face. "Lovi hasn't told you?"

"Shut up!" Lovino yelled, "Don't tell him!" Antonio was about to brush Lovino's aversion to the question off as simple rudeness until he saw the anxiety in his eyes.

"Oh, don't worry about it!" Antonio cut in quickly. If there was one thing he hated, it was making Lovino uncomfortable. So if Lovino wanted the topic dropped, then Antonio would drop the topic. He was curious, yes. What kind of appointment? Was Lovino sick? He really hoped that wasn't the case through. But hopefully Lovino would tell him later.

Romulus seemed to get the hint and let the topic drop. "Well, okay. We better hurry though. Come along boys!" He bellowed, turning to the heavy glass doors.

Antonio cast Lovino a reassuring grin, and linked his arm with Lovino's before following Romulus to the doors. They signed out and climbed into Romulus's fancy car (Antonio had no idea what it was called; he had never been a car enthusiast). During the short car ride Lovino and Antonio fought over what stations to listen to on the radio, until Lovino's grandpa turned it off because they were being too obnoxious.

Once they reached Antonio's house, he thanked Romulus and gave Lovi a hug goodbye, much to the little Italian's annoyance. Upon turning the handle of the front door however, Antonio realized that it wasn't locked. Confused, he walked inside and sure enough his parent's shoes and his mother's briefcase were there. Why were they home early? Padding quietly through the house, Antonio saw light and heard voices coming from the kitchen. When he walked in he saw his parents sitting at the dining table, with lots of papers scattered around. They looked up in surprise when they saw him.

"Antonio? What are you doing home so early?" His father asked as he set down the documents he was looking at.

"I was tired and Gil and Franny were being loud." Antonio explained while walking over to stand next to his father, as his mother started gathering up the papers. "What are you guys doing home?"

"Your father and I just have to work out some finance," his mother explained, holding the documents to her chest and placing a kiss on the top of Antonio's head as she walked past him. "I'll go put these away, and then we can have an early dinner, okay?"

"Okay!" Antonio chirped, sitting down in his usual seat at the table.

"So how was school today _hijo_?" His father asked.

Antonio grinned and launched into a very dramatic re-telling of his whole day.

* * *

 **Look who isn't dead! Me! (junior year sucks I don't recommend it). I also changed the description for this story. What do you think? Should I keep working on it? Because I can't seem to write a summary that I like for this story, because really there is no set plot line lmao. Oh well~ If you have any comments I'd love to hear them! Thank you so much for reading!**

 **Antonio and his friends are in seventh grade, Lovino is in fifth.**

 **hijo- son in Spanish.**


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